Morene
Morene Strident: A cold hearted beauty who is despised by Lucretia for her overwhelming good looks and her heritage as a half-Vampire, Morene works as a supervisor just like Leinhart. Morene's lovely face hides a cruel and unfeeling heart. She sheds not tears over the pain or death of others, especially those who suffer at her hands. *Main Weapon: Two Bone Blades *Main Skill: Mêlée The Crusades (KUF: The Crusaders) Morene was appointed to be the overseer of commander Lucretia, at least, that’s what Lucretia was led to believe. The two are constantly at odds with each other. As a result Lucretia takes every opportunity she gets to insult Morene, but Morene is always prepared with a witty comeback. One of the more amusing parts of Lucetia’s campaign is where she grades Lucretia’s performance. She assists Lucretia while providing her with important advice as to what to do. Early on in the campaign they encounter Rithrin. The Dark Elf was defeated by Gerald in a duel but refused to do the honorable thing by killing himself. The reason is because he is the leader of the Kaedes, a Dark Elf resistance group that plans to overthrow their half-vampire overlords. Cirith, one of Lucretia’s lackeys, quickly takes a liking to Rithrin. Rithrin continually tries to get Lucretia to join the Kaedes behind Morene’s back. Lucretia thinks the idea is suicide, but Cirith grows quite attached to the idea. With the assistance of Regnier, Lucretia and her forces take the Glaucus river, and even capture Esse. However, following that campaign Regnier’s forces head to the Alter of Destruction, while Lucretia and her army go to invade Hironiden. Morene doubts that they can take the city without Regnier’s assistance, but commander Rumen and Lucretia are certain they can. During this time Rithrin continues to conspires against his half-vampire overlords. Cirith becomes very attracted to Rithrin. They assault Hironiden, but then on the brink of victory are attacked by dwarven airships. The airships instantaneously turn the tide of war in Hironiden’s favor and forces Lucretia and Rumen to flee. The armies head back to Esse where they learn Valdamar has ordered them to protect the Holy Ground. Lucretia says the decision makes no sense as there is nothing of strategic importance down there. Rithrin implies that the wheels of motion are being set for something great. Morene responds by saying that it makes perfect sense to defend the location, implying there is something of great importance there. Lucretia knows that they know something she doesn't. The next day they learn that Rithrin and Cirith ran off together, and they head out in order to find them. Morene finally begins to reveal really why she was appointed as Lucretia’s overlord. She states how blind Lucretia is, and that she was well aware of the Kaedes resistance. Cirith’s job was to act like a total airhead when in reality she was an assassin sent to monitor and kill Rithrin. Once that is done she will take the Ancient Heart and give it to Valdamar. Lucretia’s concern for Rithrin reemerges and hopes she can save him in time. As they search they come across a lone Kaedes survivor. The survivor tries to get Lucretia to turn on Morene and the rest of the half-vampires. She says how undignified it is for the great High Elves to be servants of such lowly creatures. Morene begins to slowly walk towards her as she banters Lucretia for assistance. Morene takes her life and says how foolish the Kaedes are. The half-vampires united all the Dark Elves under a single banner for the first time in history, and this is how they repay them. They soon come across Rithrin, but by then it’s too late. Rithrin was killed, but not by Cirith. He plotted with the Ecclesians and showed the Patriarch the location of the Ancient Heart. However, he was betrayed and the Patriarch then fled from the Holy Ground. Devastated, Lucretia creates a funerary pyre for Rithin. The Encablossan War (KUF: Heroes) Following Rithrin’s death, Morene takes command of Lucretia’s forces. She leaves her alone to die in the desert as she stands over her lover’s body. While Cirith was still in the area when Rithrin was killed, she was not actually with him at the time. Morene and Cirith head out and chase after the Patriarch in hopes of reclaiming the Ancient Heart. Morene continues to watch Cirith’s progress from afar. Just when they thought they were about to assault the Patriarch, Regnier emerges and gets in the way. Morene saves Cirith life and has her retreat, however, Morene has no intention of letting the Patriarch get away. At this point she is attacked by Leinhart. It becomes apparent to Morene that Leinhart now serves under Regnier. Leinhart's treacherous actions against Vellond halt Morene’s army long enough for the Patriarch to escape. Leinhart hoped that Regnier would catch him. Leinhart, clearly enjoying himself in Morene’s presence, soon issues the order to leave. Morene continues her attempt to catch the Patriarch, but this time she’s interrupted by the Patriarchal Guards. She attacks them and defeats Walter. Here the game provides a real lack of story. Even though she defeats him in combat, there is no indication as to what they said to each other. This part was presumably removed as there is no way Morene would have left him alive should she get her hands on him. Also, given Walter’s importance to the story, it is clear he escapes. Shortly after this event Walter’s army destroys the Ancient Heart. Encablossa awakes and his minions start destroying everything. Cirith goes missing and Morene flees eastward. There she encounters King Valdamar and tries to protect him. However, Encablossan demons are consistently ambushing them. King Valdamar starts to doubt that he will survive this venture. Morene accidently blurts out not to worry because if he dies then the senate will get to rule. They get ambushed again and get seperated. As she heads back to Arien she searches for Valdamar’s personal body guard. Should Valdamar die Vellond could collapse. Here Morene shows little concern for the King personally. She said his death could be “problematic” and “unfortunate,” showing she cares very little about him, and it's apparent she is only concerned about the survival of the half-vampire nation itself. Morene soon comes across Ilfa who states that Valdamar was assassinated by the Kaedes. Morene says to make haste to Arein in hopes of saving the nation. However, along the way she gets attacked by Kaedes. With Rithrin dead she has no idea who is leading them. After a vicious battle their commander shows up in person. It turns out Lucretia became incharge of the Kaedes upon Rithrin’s death. Lucretia defeats Morene’s forces but chooses to spare her life. She leaves Morene knowing that her people’s reign is now over. The Dark Elves go on to wipe Arein from the map. Morene heads to the location of the ruined city and laments the death of Vellond. Kingdom Under Fire 2 After the Kaedes burnt Vellond to the ground they assumed their troubles with the half vampires had ended. The Kaedes split into various factions and started warring amongst themselves. This served as a lucky break for Morene and provided an opportunistic chance to regain power. She united the various loyalist Dark Elves and Half Vampires and chased the Kaedes out of Vellond and into the Holy Ground. For this Vellond appointed her to be their queen, where she currently sits in power. Involvement Morene is probably the single most ruthless character in the Kingdom Under Fire series. She is devoid of all emotion and never seems to care who dies. When she hears that King Valdamar dies she says this could be "problamatic," hardly a fitting response for her possible lover. It is also apparent that she enjoys the act of killing and mocking others. gone Trivia * Morene is the only character since Rick Miner to have a first and last name. * Early videos showed Morene not only fighting along side Lucretia, but Regnier and Leinhart as well. Quotes *"That's....problematic." *'King Valdemar:' I can't die, who will rule? Morene: The senate...I mean..I will not fail you your Majesty. *"Those apes."